GOP aims to hold advantage

With the election a little more than a year away, Florida’s top Republican leaders gathered here this weekend aiming to re-elect Gov. Rick Scott, keep three state Cabinet seats and retain large majorities in the state Legislature and congressional delegation next year.

Scott did not attend the Republican Party of Florida’s annual Statesman’s Dinner on Friday or a quarterly meeting of the party’s executive board on Saturday, instead remaining in Tallahassee readying the state for the potential impact from Tropical Storm Karen this weekend.

It may be fitting that Scott remained on the job, because his re-election is likely to hinge on how Floridians feel about his performance as governor.

Polls have consistently shown more Florida voters disapprove of his performance than approve — with a new Democratic poll putting his approval-disapproval rating at 33-55 percent earlier this week.

But Scott has factors in his favor, including a recovering Florida economy and the inability of the Democrats yet to unify behind a candidate, although speculation remains rampant that former Gov. Charlie Crist will be Scott’s opponent.

“We should be very proud and we should be bragging,” Scott told the 700 Republicans attending the dinner in an Internet broadcast from Tallahassee. “We’ve had a significant economic turnaround in our state...Conservative solutions are working.”

Republican Party Chairman Lenny Curry said Scott’s message for the next year will be based on his achievements, including the creation of 365,000 private-sector jobs, the reduction of state regulations and taxes and a $3.5 billion drop in state debt.

“The governor’s race is going to be run from Rick Scott’s perspective on the facts and what he has delivered,” Curry said. “It’s going to be a record of success. His campaign slogan was ‘Let’s get to work;’ that was his big promise and he has delivered on that.”

As for bolstering Scott’s image among voters, Curry said there is work to be done. “We are going to have to continue to communicate the success of Rick Scott,” he said.

Scott will have an advantage in money, already having raised more than $13 million for his re-election campaign so far this year. And that money will help him define Crist, hammering him over his transition from a “conservative” Republican to a Democrat.

“The average voter doesn’t know Charlie’s record,” Curry said. “If and when he announces then they’ll know his record.”

But while the theme of the weekend was party unity, there are clear divisions that could complicate Scott’s re-election, as well as the campaigns of other Republicans next year.

Florida Republicans could be impacted by the ongoing debate over the role of long-time Republican leaders and the newer wave of leaders who came in with the surge of the Tea Party — which also propelled Scott into office in 2010.

Meeting with GOP county leaders and state committeemen and committeewomen on Friday, Peter Feaman, a national Republican committeeman for Florida, made it clear where the Republican National Committee stands.

“When Sen. John McCain speaks by and large it does not represent the view of the Republican National Committee,” Feaman said, drawing applause from the local Republican leaders.

In contrast, Feaman said the RNC stands “100 percent” behind Texas U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, who drew national attention for his 21-plus hour filibuster on the Senate floor in opposition to the federal health care law.

On another potentially divisive issue, Feaman said the RNC is opposed to the Common Core education standards, which have come under criticism from conservative groups in Florida and will be the subject of three public hearings later this month.

Feaman said the RNC passed a resolution calling the standards “an inappropriate overreach to standardize and control the education of our children.”

Some Republicans in the middle of the Common Core debate downplayed its potential to disrupt the party heading into a critical election year.

“I’m looking forward to having an honest debate about it,” said Rep. Ray Pilon, R-Sarasota, who opposes the standards. But he said party leaders will reach a “consensus” on the issue and then move on.

“We can disagree amongst ourselves,” Pilon said. “But when it comes down to the final, we will act in concert with each other.”

Other Republican leaders talked about their efforts to energize voters and to potentially counter Crist.

Bill Bunting, a state committeeman from Pasco County who leads the party’s Second Amendment campaign, talked to local leaders about the effort to connect with gun owners and underscore the party’s support for issues like concealed weapons permits.

“We’re hitting hundreds of thousands of people,” Bunting said. “But we have to hit everybody. We have to hit every gun shop, every gun range, everybody who owns a gun.”

Connecting with the gun owners is way for the party to help candidates like Scott and the three incumbent Cabinet members, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater and Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, Bunting said.

“Gov. Scott is going to have a real tough re-election,” Bunting said. “Charlie Crist is on the ground and he’s running and he’s got a very good record on guns.”

“We need every vote,” Bunting said, adding the party’s new efforts to identify and reach likely voters through social media and other digital efforts “is great.”

“But boots on the ground wins elections,” he said.

Lloyd Dunkelberger

Lloyd Dunkelberger is the Htpolitics.com Capital Bureau Chief.
He can be reached by email or call 850 556-3542.
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Last modified: October 4, 2013
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